Oranges are the Bitter Fruit was first published
in SWW Decades Anthology. The brief was to write a fictional short story and
link it with a person who had lived. CY O'Connor [1843 - 1902] was an Irish
engineer who is best known for the construction of Fremantle Harbour and the
Goldfields Water Supply pipeline which carries water 530 km from Mundaring Dam
near Perth to Kalgoorlie Boulder in Western Australia.
I have since published it in The Japanese
Grandmother, my short story and poetry magazine.
Below is a short excerpt from the story. You can
read the rest on my website at www.authorsden.com/laurellamperd
ORANGES ARE THE BITTER FRUIT
The boy had watched the house since daylight.
Last night, he planned to break in and steal
food when the occupants were asleep. Then his hunger was bearable. Now it was
like a raging tiger. Getting food was all he cared about but he was frightened.
He hadn't broken into a house before.
He saw the man leave on horseback early in the
morning. Then some children left in a horse-drawn carriage and a woman an hour
later.
For a long time, there wasn't any movement at
the house and the smoke had cleared from the chimney.
When he thought it safe, he stepped from behind
a bush and glanced up and down the road. No one was in sight. He ran across to
the house and climbed the fence before fear got the better of him, and jumped
down into the courtyard.
It shocked him to see a young girl whom he
hadn't noticed, standing at an easel, painting, in the shade of the wide
verandah.
* * *
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